Ternion
by Covenant-Dance117
Summary: An over-sheltered runaway, a girl suffering from clinical paranoia, and a schizophrenic ex-nun from Kanto embark on a magical journey though Sinnoh. One thing's for sure: Sinnoh is ten times more interesting when every second is its own opponent.
1. Introduction

Welcome, one in all, to the insane set of misadventures known as Ternion.

Full Summary: An over-sheltered runaway, a girl suffering from clinical paranoia, and a schizophrenic ex-nun from Kanto embark on a magical(?) journey though Sinnoh. One believes time is against her, another is quite sure that a dead Magby haunts her, and the only sane one just wants to get his badges and prove his worth. One thing's for sure: Sinnoh is a thousand times more interesting when every second is its own opponent.

Rating: T, for intermittent use of the "F-bomb" and other such curses.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any part thereof.

(AN): This is simply a prelude, written in three different points of view- each POV uses first person. Kind of a way to introduce y'all to the characters. Don't worry, everything goes back to the way things -should- be in the next chapter. Each section is clearly separated. With that, I leave you to this insane mess of a story.

* * *

[Day 00: Introduction]

* * *

{Eva}

2:41 and 00 seconds.

One-Mississippi

2:41 and 01 seconds.

Two-Mississipp-

I didn't even have time to sound out the last syllable before the clock moved another second forward in time.

I knew it. I fucking knew it. Somewhere, somehow, the ancient master of time is laughing at me, adding a few seconds here and subtracting a few more just when I need them. It's sneaky, you know? It doesn't ever actually add a -whole- second. It adds a tenth, or a twentieth, or a hundredth... and no one seems to notice.

...But I do. I've been cataloging my clock for hours a night, making notes whenever it seemed to disagree with my counting. I opened up my book, and made a new entry. It's the exact same notation every time. Dash, date, time (in 24-hour format), offense.

- September 24th. 0241 hours. Skip forward in time, by one-fifth of a second.

I closed the book, and patiently waited for the clock to start its next minute, which, by the time I had written everything down, was 2:43. I missed an entire minute. The master of time probably fucked with that minute so much that I would have a whole book full of entries based only on that one instant in time.

Time is against me. It always has been. No one seems to get that- my mother just shakes her head, and my father is too busy petting his Swampert while watching some vague athletic event on the television. Heh, he never counts the seconds in those damn events. I do. The master of time absolutely _loves_ to mess with time in events such as those.

Goddammit. 2:45 is in the midst of passing, and I'm not counting.

I see your influence, master of time. I know your game. I know you're against me. And someday, I will defeat you and wrinkle out the folds of the horrendous beast you've created. And all will be well.

* * *

{Sara}

It's raining. It's raining hard. Will there be hail? I certainly don't enjoy hail.

My god, look at that man's raincoat! It's so yellow! It almost hurts my eyes. I mean seriously, who wears a coat _that_ bright? I feel as if I am catching some sort of virus from it.

_You are, my dear, you are_

Oh no. NO. I thought I escaped you when I left Johto! I left you at the harbor, I know I did! Then I sailed here and... YOU. You followed me? Where are you? Where are you?

...It's not answering. Did I kill it? Oh Arceus above, did I finally kill that dead little monster?

...The man in the yellow raincoat has stopped, and now he's looking at me. I don't quite know why. Certainly he could hear that blasted little demon. Stop looking at me. Stop looking at me. Go about your business, man in yellow raincoat.

...I have to get out of here. Perhaps Jubilife city will offer me some comfort.

* * *

{Aden}

Monitors asleep? Check.

Video surveillance tape looped? Check.

Alarm system deactivated? ...Still working on that one.

I swear, all those bastards want to do is keep me here. The coding algorithm they loaded this damn system with is insanely robust. Sometimes, obtaining a Porygon in semi-legal methods from a "friend" in an ankle-length black trench coat and midnight-black sunglasses is a good thing. "Hax", as I have affectionately dubbed it, is doing quite well in its battle against parental tyranny.

Speak of the devil. Final passcode cracked. Goodbye, home. Hello, Pokemon League.

Going back to the checklist:

Alarm system deactivated? Check.

I cracked open the window at a rate that could be beaten by a Slowpoke. With every damn centimeter, I hoped with all of my brain that the damn system wouldn't restart and blare a wake-up call to the dictators from whence I came.

Ten centimeters. Nothing. I opened it the rest of the way, and let the cool fall air flutter through my usually warm room. I shivered a bit at the change of temperature, and pulled out a pair of scissors to begin my work on the mesh screen that stood as a final bastion for my imprisonment.

A few seconds later, Hax popped out of the terminal and silently floated next to me. It was my partner- really, my first Pokemon, although the dictators would know nothing of this.

With every damn clip the scissors made, I considered myself one tiny inch closer to freedom. I've dreamed of traveling Sinnoh's roads for years- ever since I was younger, I wanted to have a stellar team of Pokemon that would rival that of any Gym Leader.

Thanks to the despots that I call "parents", that never happened.

My tenth birthday came along. I was too young. My eleventh, same excuse. Twelfth? They didn't think I was "ready" yet. Thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth all held the same damn excuse. At sixteen, they blatantly told me that I was to stay at home. Help mother. Admire father's previous battles.

As of two hours and forty minutes ago, I am seventeen. I'm not waiting for any excuse. I doubt there would even be one.

Fuck it all. They can't hold me back. I'm leaving this place, and I'm only coming back when and if I'm satisfied with my team's strength. Hax quietly hummed next to me, perhaps in some form of wonderment at the cutting of the mesh. Why it took interest in that, I have no idea. Porygons are weird.

One final cut. My hands eased down on the scissors, and I relished in the sound of the mesh screen falling one story down into the bushes below.

A black backpack sat on the bed, packed to the brim with everything I could ever possibly need. I grabbed a Pokeball from the side, and withdrew Hax. It had done enough work for today.

They say you learn something every day. Today, or tonight, rather, I learned that a seventeen year old can indeed make a successful jump from a second story window, provided that he hang on the window ledge and drop to the bushes below. Also, bushes are angry, angry plants that enjoy giving numerous scratches, even through thick black jeans. Little fuckers.

That's it. It's a cool night, and I'm glad that I've got a light jacket to combat the bitter wind that's blowing against me, trying to get me to go back to that damned place. Hopefully Sandgem will hold the beginning of my future.

* * *

(AN): Yeah. It's gonna be a crazy ride. Note to all: Writing for a schizo in first person is (apparently) insanely difficult (for me).


	2. Waking Up

...You're still here? Welcome back. This is the official first chapter. I would have a banner ready, but I guess I wasn't quite on the ball this time.

Disclaimer: No, I still don't own Pokemon.  


* * *

[Day 01: Waking Up]

The morning sun lazily rose over the silent trees that surrounded Route 201, its warming light piercing through the spaces between the brances. The once prevalent sounds of Volbeat and Illumise slowly dimmed out, only to be replaced with the early morning chirping of Starly. The grass was soon covered in dew, which was silently pulled from the blades by the gently rising sun.

Aden awoke to find that, while the sun was particularly excellent at evaporating the little droplets of water from leaves, it was quite bad at taking away the water that he had gained on his person by unconsciously rolling about in the grass.

Dampness. He simply hated the feeling of dampness.

The young man pulled his arms out of the jacket that was now suffocating him with its general hydrophillic tendencies. It fell to the ground with a semi-wet thud. Aden picked it up, shook any loose pieces of grass off of it, and shoved it into his backpack.

He checked his watch. 7:45 AM. If he knew his parents (and, from months of analyzing their sleep patterns, he did), they would soon be getting up. This means they would soon be noticing the lack of a certain brown-haired boy at the breakfast table.

By means of logic, he calculated that his best move was probably to get the hell to Sandgem, and attempt to grab one of the common "starter" Pokemon for the region of Sinnoh. The young man had read dozens of books on the Sinnoh League, to the point where he knew exactly the order in which he was going to tackle the eight Gyms. He knew what three starters were available, and had even begun to formulate an excellent strategy if he could acquire a Chimchar from the Professor. He also knew that the Professor, Rowan, was one hell of an imposing man, complete with bushy mustache and perpetually-angry glare.

Aden sighed, threw his pack lazily over his shoulder, and continued walking in what he assumed was the direction of the small town.

* * *

  
6:30 AM.

A pair of green-blue eyes shot open. The young girl sat straight up in bed, and turned automatically to the digital clock that sat on her nightstand. In boiling red, it announced that it was 6:30 AM and 24 seconds.

Eva shook her head. To her, every missed second was a chance for danger. A few seconds silently ticked by, and the young girl brought herself out of bed to blearily glance around the room. Her small house was still silent, as her parents were unaware of the dark transgression of time manipulation that she believed was going on.

For Eva, it was the same basic regiment every morning. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Put hair up. Go downstairs, stare at the clock. Wait for the rest of the members of the family to arrive. And so, that is what she did.

An hour later, Eva's mother came down the stairs, still in her gray bathrobe, clearly just looking for her morning coffee. The older woman passed Eva with complete silence- she was used to her daughter being wide awake at the table, boring her gaze into the analogue clock that sat innocently on the wall.

Eva had nothing against her mother. Kari, as she was called by the numerous friends who would visit during the day, was nothing more than a puppet controlled by her oppressive bully of a husband- Eva's father, William. The brute with the 'roided up Swampert to match. Said Swampert was sleeping lazily on a rug in the living room.

There was no denying it- William Mills was a bastard of a man. Back in high school, he's the kind of guy that would walk around in some vague varsity athletic shirt, using his ridiculously overpowered Swampert to beat up on the newly evolved Magnetons and Porygon-2s of the "nerds". The only one who seemingly couldn't see the obvious toxicity of the man was Kari- the kind woman that he had taken as his wife. As for Eva? She attempted to get past his stormy demeanor, but never really could. She didn't hate the man, but she certainly didn't love him either.

Kari silently poured herself a mug of coffee, and guided a tendril of her long black hair to a proper resting position behind her ear. After taking a sip, she looked over towards her daughter, who was still glaring ever-so-intently at the clock.

"Eva? You know, it's Monday today," she started, a gentle persuasive tone taking over her voice.

The same thing happened every day. It didn't matter that it was Monday. And so, Eva just added it to the usual regiment. The next entry after staring at the clock was simply "listen to mom try to persuade me to go on a Pokemon adventure".

"Mondays-"

"Are a great day to start an adventure. Yes, mom, I am aware," Eva finished, finally turning from the clock to her mother.

Silence prevailed as Kari let out a saddened sigh. The family's Mightyena barked indignantly from the backyard, possibly at a passing stranger or vehicle. And the clock marched forward a few more seconds.

Eva mulled quietly over what her mother was suggesting. The young girl had never really put any thought to going on an "adventure". If she couldn't watch the time, that damned Dialga would sneak a few more milliseconds in and fuck up everything. If she wouldn't watch it, who would? No one. That's who.

The silence was pierced by Kari's voice once more.

"I know that you keep talking about time. I think that your time would be better spent traveling Sinnoh. Your father and I would be very proud of you. Eva, you would have so much fun... I traveled, before I met your father. I didn't go for the League Challenge, nor did I attempt to enter any Contests. I just traveled the land with my Pokemon, and I have never felt so loved and so free as I did in those days." Kari closed her eyes, and smiled lightly.

She wasn't lying. Eva knew that simply by the fact that her mother's precious Persian had wandered under the table and was now acting as an impromptu footrest for the young girl. Kari loved that feline, probably more than she loved any of her other Pokemon.

"Of course I talk about time," started Eva, sending a glare her mother's way that could melt through steel, "because that bastard master of time is against me."

Ah, the paranoia. Kari's eyes filled with an indescribable sadness as she recounted her daughter's life to that point. It all started when she was around 8. Eva would always be glaring at clocks, as if they had done something to upset her. After the girl finally expressed her notions of battling the seconds, she was taken to a psychiatrist, and given a basic psychological panel. While most of the areas were close enough to the statistical norm, there was a dramatic spike in the paranoia section. The girl was chased by all sorts of worries after that- the time one being only the most marked.

Maybe a journey would clear out some of these sick notions.

"Honey, did you ever think of wearing a watch? You could always watch time then." Kari doubted this would work. She had never really tried to play into her daughter's illness, simply because most (if not all) psychological advice said not to.

'Of course. A watch. Then maybe I can outsmart the master and defeat it!' Her eyes sparked with an energy that hadn't been seen in years.

Why she had never thought of that herself, she had no idea. Probably too busy fighting the battle at home. She looked back to her mother with a smirk.

"Okay then. I'll play your game. Give me a watch, and I'll travel this land until I find and defeat the time lord."

* * *

(AN): And so ends the first "official" chapter. Shenanigans (and the actual _official_ appearance of Sara) will occur later.


End file.
